Minimalist Hypertrophy Programs

I'm not "anti-minimalist" by any means.

But, when I see a "hypertrophy program" that consists of just 2 exercises (for the entire plan), I'm immediately annoyed. 

You don't increase muscle mass all across the body with just 2 exercises. It ain't happening. I've been dumb enough to try.

These plans sell well, though, because they seem so simple.

This is especially common in the kettlebell world.

Coaches will market their new hypertrophy plan, and it's clean & press ladders and front squat ladders (or something similar). 

That's it. That's the program.

Come on! Really? 

That's NOT a hypertrophy program.

That's just a higher volume press and squat program.

Maybe you'll build a little muscle in the delts, triceps, and quads. But you'll literally lose muscle everywhere else (assuming you were training the back, chest, biceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves prior to this minimalist hypertrophy plan).

Hypertrophy plans DON'T require a TON of time or exercises. But they do require at least 1 exercise for the 6 major movement patterns.

To review, here's the 6 major movement patterns:

1. Squat/lunge

2. Hinge

3. Horizontal push

4. Vertical push

5. Horizontal pull

6. Vertical pull

Here's 3 key accessory patterns that should be included if you REALLY want to maximize hypertrophy:

1. Bicep curl exercise 

2. Tricep extension exercise 

3. Calf isolation exercise

Look at Vince Gironda's plans. They were all hypertrophy plans because his business was body building and cosmetics for TV stars, but he prescribed relatively minimalist programs. Often his routines were designed to be completed in 30-40 minutes, and he suggested picking just 1 exercise for each muscle group.

But he made sure each muscle group was prescribed an exercise. (Sometimes he wouldn't prescribe direct forearm exercises if the client already had decently developed forearms).

So his programs typically had 8-9 exercises.

1 for quads, 1 for hamstrings, 1 for calves, 1 for back, 1 for chest, 1 for biceps, 1 for triceps, 1 for shoulders, 1 for either forearms OR a second back exercise. 

2 exercises alone cannot be called a hypertrophy program, no matter how good those 2 exercises are.

If you just want to do 2 exercises to be a minimalist and do 2 exercises, great. More power to you.

But you're not doing a hypertrophy program and you will not experience great gains in hypertrophy doing so.